Residents share concerns to Wilmot council over proposed farmland expropriation

The saga of the mystery over the expropriation of farm land in Wilmot continues.

Wilmot councillors heard a presentation from Alfred Lowrick, a resident of Wilmot representing all the landowners being affected by the proposed expropriation of farmland from Wilmot Centre to Nafziger Road. He said the lack of information from regional council is “disturbing,” as he argued they were not getting answers since presenting to them last week.

“Many of these people are long term farming families who located in the area due to the high quality of farmland and reassurances that lands like this would not face development pressures,” said Lowrick. “To say they were distraught is an understatement.”

He noted there have been rumors that the land will be used for an industrial site, but no details have been publicly released. The 770 acres is 8.5km around the perimeter, or about the distance from Kitchener City Hall to St. Jacobs Farmers Market.

Lowrick said the decision is inconsistent with the region’s climate change goals in reducing greenhouse gases and could cause a chain reaction in more farmland being seized due to auxiliary uses around the site. This includes over capacity at the local sewage plant, highway transportation or rail access and water quality.

“Clearly from our viewpoint, regional staff hasn’t done enough of their homework and have made a really poor choice with this distant, constrained location lacking most of the essential infrastructure and features industrial purchasers will be seeking, so I ask ‘why?'” said Lowrick.

Questions put to council to pass onto the region include:

1. Why is this land being used?
2. Why was there no public consultation or engagement?
3. Why is it located outside of the settlement boundaries?
4. Why was the GRCA not involved in the discussion?

Two weeks ago, farm owners in the area of Wilmot Centre and Nafziger Road were approached by a consulting company, Canacre Ltd., with offers of selling their lands. If they didn’t, they allegedly told them their lands would be expropriated by the region in August.

In a statement, the region and Wilmot council said “Land assembly is underway to create shovel-ready sites for large-scale economic investment to further support Waterloo Region’s economic vitality as it grows to one million residents by 2050.”